Heineken Lager Beer 500ml can 5.0% x 6

[Pining]

This isn't that bad!

First can.

Might sit back and watch some cricket.

[Staggerwing]

Sadly, I'm not a big fan of Heineken. I guess that makes me a bad native born Dutchman but I'm partial to ales, especially IPAs. I've had Heineken fresh from the tap while back in Zaandam (NL) and it is a bit better than that which is unloaded off the boats by importer Leo Van Munching & Co. I've heard that it is now also brewed in Canada under license so that may allow for fresher deliveries to the US eventually.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

The stuff here in Canada is just another mass produced, piss water lager.  It's indistinguishable from Miller, Bud, Molson, or any of 100 others.  Plus their ads are annoying as hell.  And they play them in movie theatres... Screw those guys.

[Staggerwing]

What's odd is that Amstel (admittedly a lighter lager) seems to survive the trip with little to no skunkiness. Maybe those brown bottles really do make a difference.

[LongBlade]

What's odd is that Amstel (admittedly a lighter lager) seems to survive the trip with little to no skunkiness. Maybe those brown bottles really do make a difference.

They do - sort of.

(full disclosure: I used to brew my own beer and learned a fair amount about it)

The bottle colors aren't the problem per se. It's the UV light given off by the fluorescent lights in the beer cooler that is the problem.

Clear bottles filter zero UV light. Green bottles filter some UV light. Brown bottles filter more UV light. A box is perfect as it effectively filters all UV light.

Whenever I buy beer at the store I *always* buy the beer that is farthest back in the case. That's where it's darkest and is most likely to have had the least UV exposure. If the store is stocking their shelves properly, it's also the freshest beer. That usually works.

Skunky beer is simply a function of too much UV exposure. There is *no* beer in the world that is deliberately brewed to smell bad.

Corona probably doesn't smell because the stock rotates frequently enough that it doesn't go bad before it is sold.

Obscure brews that sit on shelves for months go bad due to time on the shelf.

Really they're not "bad" they just don't smell right. They're still fine to drink, and typically airing them out gets rid of the smell, though not always.

[Huw the Poo]

The stuff here in Canada is just another mass produced, piss water lager.

Whenever I drank Heineken in my student days I always thought it had been watered down because it had such a weak taste.  Awful stuff.  Then again, i can't abide lagers in general (although I can drink Carling if necessary).  I am what Viz refers to as a Real Ale Wanker. :D

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

That looks far tastier than any pale lager.

[LongBlade]

That looks far tastier than any pale lager.

Paulaner is good stuff.

[Airborne Rifles]

Sam Adams Boston Lager on draught is hands down my favorite.

[Staggerwing]

^ SA Boston Lager is good as well. It's more of an ale style but made with lager yeast, very different than a pilsner. I wish Sam Adams would consider doing the 5 liter mini-keg thing just like Heineken and Newcastle.

[LongBlade]

Sam Adams Boston Lager on draught is hands down my favorite.

You guys will think I'm lying, but I used to brew beer that tasted a lot like Sam Adams. I had been brewing for about a year when I first tasted Sam Adams, so it was by accident. The Hallertau hops they use are the signature taste and that's what I used to do. Recently I heard a story that Sam Adams had contracted for all the Hallertau hops out of Germany. I wonder if you can get them for homebrew or if the stock is locked out?

[Staggerwing]

I like Williams Brewing for stuff that I can'r get locally:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/6-OZ-GERMAN-HALLERTAU-MITTELFRUEH-PELLETS-P246C75.aspx

Also:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/german-hallertau-pellets-1-oz.html

Also lots available on Amazon.com as well.

[LongBlade]

I like Williams Brewing for stuff that I can'r get locally:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/6-OZ-GERMAN-HALLERTAU-MITTELFRUEH-PELLETS-P246C75.aspx

Also:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/german-hallertau-pellets-1-oz.html

Also lots available on Amazon.com as well.

Dang. I'm getting the feeling I need to start brewing again. Only downside is that Smuck lives close enough to drink all my stuff.

[Staggerwing]

I'd love to do so as well. No time, no space, especially for uninterrupted bottling. I've been toying with the idea of kegging though. I even have a surplus cornelius keg in the garage. I suspect I'll have to replace some of my stuff as it's been sitting around, badly stored, in that same garage for a long time. Could probably make mutant lambic WMD beer with it by now...

[Martok]

Sam Adams Boston Lager on draught is hands down my favorite.

You guys will think I'm lying, but I used to brew beer that tasted a lot like Sam Adams. I had been brewing for about a year when I first tasted Sam Adams, so it was by accident. The Hallertau hops they use are the signature taste and that's what I used to do. Recently I heard a story that Sam Adams had contracted for all the Hallertau hops out of Germany. I wonder if you can get them for homebrew or if the stock is locked out?

(I would just like to mention that it was impossible to read this with a straight face...)